The Premier Business Leadership Series: Las Vegas

Kear is responsible for the sales, marketing and business development aspects of the company and by keeping in close touch with client needs he has been able to identify potential suppliers and new emerging business areas for future growth.

IS Solutions provides a range of Internet design, website development and systems support services to public and private sector clients. Short bio

Prior to joining Chico's, Mr. King served as Chief Information Officer for Barnes & Noble from May, 2002 through October, 2004. From January 1999 to May 2002, Mr. King served as Executive Vice President of Operations and Chief Technology Officer for barnesandnoble.com. During this time he played a key role in growing the company from $68 million in sales to over $400 million in sales.

Prior to joining Barnes & Noble, Mr. King was Vice president of Global Information Technology for Avon Products, Inc. and from July 1993 to December 1998 was based in the United Kingdom with area wide technology responsibilities for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. During this time his team provided the systems infrastructure for starting fourteen new market entry's throughout the region. Prior to his assignment in Europe, he was director of Customer Service and Distribution and drove a number of innovations and improvements in the Avon US business.

Mr. King began his career with Burroughs Corporation and held various systems management and technology positions during his 10 years there and played a key role in integrating the infrastructure of Sperry and Burroughs to form Unisys.

Mr. King received a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Florida and attended graduate studies in business administration at Florida Atlantic University. He is a frequent conference presenter and has been featured in numerous articles and case studies and recognized as a Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader. He is a member of the Board of Directors/Advisory Board for the following organizations: School of Retailing at the University of Florida, Center for Supply Chain Management at the University of Florida, the Retail Customer Advisory Board for Microsoft Corporation, The Horizon Council of Lee County and Slow Food Southwest Florida. He lives with his wife and children in Fort Myers, FL. Short bio

Kay has worked with the North Carolina Office of the State Controller for over ten years. During this time she managed development, support and enhancements for the North Carolina Accounting System (NCAS) Decision Support System (DSS) data warehouse and business analytics.

Kay currently serves as the Program Manager for the Data Integration Program, with primary responsibility for managing the Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services (CJLEADS) pilot program. CJLEADS is a criminal justice data integration and analytics system which was recently deployed in Wake County, North Carolina. Short bio

The majority of his career has been focused on the study of corporate data and how it can be turned into a revenue source. Pruitt has been in the analytics profession since 1986 and is extremely proficient with SAS software solutions. Pruitt has spent almost three decades supporting the financial services and insurance industries. While he comes from a humble Midwestern farm background, he has had the opportunity to acquire international business acumen by traveling the world, performing accounting audits and recommending business process improvements using his analytic talents and gifts. Short bio

He is the lead author of Smart (Enough) Systems: How to Deliver Competitive Advantage by Automating Hidden Decisions (Prentice Hall, 2007) with Neil Raden and has contributed chapters on decision management and business rules to numerous other books. He is a faculty member of the International Institute for Analytics, an active consultant, trainer, keynote speaker and blogger. James' experience includes time at FICO, PeopleSoft R&D, and Ernst & Young. James is a prolific blogger, with regular posts at JTonEDM.com and Smart data Collective.

James is a highly sought speaker, appearing frequently at industry conferences, events and seminars. James has an M.S. in Business Systems Analysis and Design from City University, London; a B.S. in Geological Geophysics and Mathematics from the University of Reading, England; and a Mini-MBA certificate from the Silicon Valley Executive Business Program at San Jose State University. Short bio

Previously, Williams served as the Vice President of research and development for Catalina Marketing and vice president of retail for Catalina’s SuperMarkets Online division. Williams brings more than 25 years of experience and a broad industry perspective to CMC. His background includes management, sales, marketing, systems design and development, and operations positions with retailers, software development and information technology companies. Prior to joining CMC, he acted as the vice president of retail operations for Catalina Information Resources (CIR), where he developed and implemented leading-edge technologies needed to supply daily scanning data for inventory control and logistics management to top CPG (consumer package goods) companies and retailers throughout the United States.

Williams previously served as the regional sales manager for Retail Management Systems, a company which developed one of the first commercially available DEX/UCS (Direct Exchange/Uniform Communications Standards) DSD (Direct Store Delivery) systems. Williams also spent 12 years with Datachecker Systems (formerly National Semiconductor Corporation), where he worked as an account executive, marketing manager, systems analyst, and a field operations manager. During his tenure, Williams assisted in the development and implementation of many "first use" technologies in the supermarket arena including automated time and attendance, automated cash control systems, and radio-frequency in-aisle price verification applications. Short bio

Mr. Zucker most recently served as Vice President – Merchandise Operations at Family Dollar. In that role, he was responsible for managing critical merchandising support functions including Pricing, Space Planning, Vendor/Item Management, Category Management & Analysis, Merchandise/Assortment Planning, and Merchandise Initiatives.

Before joining Family Dollar in 2006, Mr. Zucker was a Management Consultant at BearingPoint and prior to that worked as a Buyer with Belk, Inc. Scott earned a degree in Psychology from Davidson College and a Masters in Business Administration from UNC-Charlotte. Short bio